I have spent the day Smithing,and trying to get that higher,anyone got any tips that rises it higher quicker(the smithing that is)..currently about 45 in it

Just purchase training in the skill. That's what the option is there for.

And obviously just gather as many materials as possible, and even purchase those if you can. Make a ton of Iron Daggers and Leather Helmets and whatever else you have materials for and it should go up quickly. My smithing is by far my highest level skill, up at 85 or something (one-handed is around 65).

I have spent the day Smithing,and trying to get that higher,anyone got any tips that rises it higher quicker(the smithing that is)..currently about 45 in it

Just purchase training in the skill. That's what the option is there for.

already done that but it only goes up 5 levels before i have to main level my character

I will go with the Iron Daggers and Leather helmets...today i was just doing all kinds of stuff,not knowing which was best

From what I saw on the UI there are different levels of trainers. So the common trainer you can only do 5 levels, but I would guess there's another level in a different city that can level you up 5 more, etc.

I have spent the day Smithing,and trying to get that higher,anyone got any tips that rises it higher quicker(the smithing that is)..currently about 45 in it

Just purchase training in the skill. That's what the option is there for.

already done that but it only goes up 5 levels before i have to main level my character

I will go with the Iron Daggers and Leather helmets...today i was just doing all kinds of stuff,not knowing which was best

From what I saw on the UI there are different levels of trainers. So the common trainer you can only do 5 levels, but I would guess there's another level in a different city that can level you up 5 more, etc.

No, it's a max of 5 times being trained in a skill per level. Once you reach a new level, you get to train again. If you find yourself limited by this, you're probably focusing way too much in one skill anyway. The only alternative is grinding, but I can't see the fun in that.

Question on the 360 version. Does installing to the hard drive help with the load times? I think I would live with the blurry textures if I could cut these load times in and out of buildings down.

Yes, it helps a ton. I couldn't even tell a difference with the textures either. Some still look awful no matter how you play.

I got home from vacation a little while ago. I picked up Skyrim Tuesday at Target and it included a paper map, which was a pre-order bonus from Gamestop. Hmm. I installed it because I have a launch 360 and the DVD drive makes quite a racket.

Question on the 360 version. Does installing to the hard drive help with the load times? I think I would live with the blurry textures if I could cut these load times in and out of buildings down.

Yes, it helps a ton. I couldn't even tell a difference with the textures either. Some still look awful no matter how you play.

I got home from vacation a little while ago. I picked up Skyrim Tuesday at Target and it included a paper map, which was a pre-order bonus from Gamestop. Hmm. I installed it because I have a launch 360 and the DVD drive makes quite a racket.

I ended up picking up from Best Buy and it had that nice map inside too.

nothing illustrates the disparity between a bear attack and a dragon better than this: after my greatsword-wielding heavy armored nord took down a dragon where I took about 40% damage from his frost breath (bad luck there bud), claw and bite attacks I died in one hit from a pissed off bear after my housecarl plinked it with an arrow.

while I was annoyed at losing the time I took to trek there i was impressed with the randomness of it all. the next time I successfully stealth attacked the bear with the dwarven bow and we got him to a quarter life before I stabbed him through the throat with the greatsword.

I'm finding it hard not to go hunting for a while just to get as many hides as possible before bumping smithing skill up a lot. having the increased defense and attack from that is too awesome to pass up.

only complaint is being able to wear just one ring. kind of kills the options of having a bunch of low level stuff enchanted and makes the smaller gems under-used.

I went with smithing the Iron Daggers,i just went to each town and purchased all their Iron Ingots(quite cheap actually) and got myself some leather strips and then created a shitload of daggers..and just did that over and over

My smithing is now 100,i made myself some Dragon Armour and then improved it to legendary status..i look beeeeuuuuutiful

i also improved my Sword to Legendary,but its still 53 dmg,so i may try Enchanting next and see if that improves the dmg level

oh and i came across a lot of delivery quests,person in town gives you the quest,you deliver it to a person in the same town,you make 600gold,all for 2 minutes work tops,and there are quests like that in every town and other quests as well similar to that,its not always delivering,in whiterun i helped a woman who was being harassed by a guy,all i did was go talk to him...600gold

getting gold in this game is milles easier than Oblivion and Morrowind IMO

I am currently level 8 and playing with 1h and a shield...did I make a huge mistake? Combat feels really off and after one or 2 hits, I'm out of stamina or trying to run after a ranged baddie. Is melee not viable in this game or am I just doing it wrong?

I did install the game on my 360. I haven't noticed any change in the graphics. I also haven't noticed any improvements in load times. Oh well....

Haven't really chimed in on this one. It has many MANY flaws/quirks, but as someone who has always wanted to like this series more than he ever actually did like this series, Skyrim finally moves me into the "like" category for a game.

I still think it's silly for there to be any mob harder to kill than a dragon. Silly design decision. If I had been Giantborn (or Bearborn), I would really feel powerful.

You're trying to do a power attack for every swing, so you're burning through stamina quickly. Use some regular attacks, too.

I definitely don't do power swings each time, but I do sometimes. I can never seem to hit that running power swing btw.

It just seems like I try and block and they either break my block or they hit me when I try and get a swing in after I block one of their attacks. I never tried to melee in FO3, so maybe that's just how it goes, but I'm feeling like I made a bad choice with character style.

Yeah, it was odd to take down a dragon at level 6 without breaking much of a sweat only to be killed by a bandit in two swings a little later.

So I haven't spent any time working on any other than other than combat. What should I immediately start on as to not screw myself over later?

I agree with the above post on the feeling toward the game. I bought Morrowind and Oblivion and couldn't get into them at all. Skyrim is much easier to get into for some reason. It feels like they learned a bit from Fallout 3 in regards to pacing and introducing you to areas and the game.

Leo, try out magic... I am finding the combat IMMENSELY satifying with lots of options and never a dull moment. You should be able to pick up some novice level skills and still do ok even at your level.

I play with an axe and shield and don't really have problems. You may have to level up your blocking skill a bit, just make sure you bring it up before their attack hits each time. If you are constantly running out of stamina you're definitely using power attacks, since nothing else at that level/build really uses that besides sprinting.

Also be aware that swords attack faster than axes, which are faster than maces, so if you're using a mace and enemies keep getting in hits before you can attack try a sword or axe.

Wanted to let everyone know that the next PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 updates have been submitted for certification, and that the PC patch is coming too. The current estimate is that they will be live the week after Thanksgiving.

while I have been playing this game the dragons from about LvL 10 onwards have been quite easy to kill,I am not sure if its because i made lvl 40 but tonight i stumbled across 2 Elder Dragons(not at the same time),they are much tougher than the regular dragons,but they still give you the Dragon Soul and the normal lot of Dragon Bones and scales,maybe a 100 or so more gold

finally got my Daedric Armour and along with my Daedric Sword,i look like Friggin' Sauron from Lord of the Rings

An Elder Dragon attacked Whiterun,it even perched on top of my house firing freeze breath at the locals,thankfully there were a lot of soldiers who whittled some of its health down before it landed and i went in for the kill,there is now a ruddy big skeleton right next to my front doorIt was great because the whole of Whiterun came out and stood round the skeleton making remarks about how they didn't believe it,i stood in front of the skeleton,trying my best to pose with it

Thankfully no soldiers or NPCs were killed,even though this was one of the tougher Elder Dragons

found a tip yesterday,if you get i think 70% in speechcraft and then select the investor perk,you can go and see Lucan Valerius at Riverwood(the little village you visited right at the beginning of the game),and 'invest' 500 gold into his shop...he then turns that 500 gold,into 10,000 gold which he will always have,so you can sell 10k worth of crap to him and then come back in 48hrs and he will have 10k more

this can be done with all traders i think once you have selected that perk,however,i am not sure if any of the others will gain as much as Lucan Valerius in Riverwood